Gardaí believe four men were involved in the kidnapping at gunpoint of an 18-year-old teenager in county Louth last night.
The youth had arranged to meet a man at a local car park to discuss selling a car when instead he was met by two men, one with a gun, and bundled into a car.
He was taken to a disused farm yard near Termonfeckin where two other men were waiting and he was kept there for a number of hours.
The youth was then brought back to his family home by the men who assaulted his father and brother.
Gardaí said the men left with a small amount of cash and the car, an Audi, was found burnt out in the area a short time later.